RIFT exclusive: Storm Legion lore bonanza
With fall on its way, the dark forces of the Storm Legion are preparing to invade RIFT and give its players a new challenge. Fans of Trion Worlds' maiden MMO are no doubt scouring the internet for any scraps of relevant information about the expansion, which is why we're pleased to offer you two exclusive lore pieces on the Infinity Gate and the Storm Legion itself.
In addition to this lore, we've got brand-new concept art and screenshots to give you a taste of what's to come with Storm Legion.
When you're done soaking all of this in, you may want to check out Executive Producer Scott Hartsman's Reddit AMA (ask me anything) that's going on today!
The Storm Legion
As Crucia conquered world after world to feed the Blood Storm, she filled her ranks with master tacticians and ruthless shock troops. In this manner, Crucia constructed an army from the best the planes had to offer -- one powerful enough to control what she desired.
When the Blood Storm reached Telara, the other dragons warred over the powers of its sourcestone. But Crucia's eye fell on the glorious continent of Brevane, where the people made marvels of metal and magic.
The Brevanic people fell before Crucia's flights of Storm Drakes and White Dragon children, to say nothing of the numberless, faceless rank-and-file. Some of the Brevanes fled to what is now Mathosia; others sought shelter in the Eternal City, whose defenses were powerful enough to stay the Legion's march.
Still, and utterly unknown to their Ascended foes, the Storm Legion has controlled over half of the continent ever since -- spending ages in preparation for the battle to come.
Harnessing advanced Empyrean technology, the Storm Legion has built machines even the Blood Storm feared: automaton soldiers and mechanical monsters like the legendary Volan, whose tread crushes cities, whose beam weapons burn armies to dust.
On Brevane they have waited, the mightiest force Telara has ever known. Entrenched, patient as a still sky before a storm, they watch for Crucia's signal to let loose their augmented fury... and resume their march across the planes.
The Infinity Gate
Amid the Steppes of Infinity there stands a massive ruin gazing up toward Crucia's storm-tossed sky. Floating impossibly above this structure is an intricate construct of interlocking lenses and disks, their surfaces covered with bas reliefs.
If scholars were to brave the Storm Legion forces patrolling the Steppes, they would say the ruin is capable of opening portals to other dimensions -- portals large enough to send armies marching through. This is the Infinity Gate, and sending an army through is just what Crucia has in mind.
In the height of their empire, the people of Brevane undertook grand construction projects called the God Engines. The most expensive and controversial of these was the Infinity Gate, through which the empire might explore and colonize the planes at its leisure.
When work had finished, folk gathered from across Brevane to watch the gate's activation. Raw energy arced between its floating lenses, dragging them into alignment. A tunnel of light shot from the structure, tearing open a portal in the sky... and the Blood Storm emerged, hungry, from the other side.
The energy and materials that were used to build the Infinity Gate had drawn the dark gods to Telara, and the gateway itself had given them a shortcut right to the heart of civilization. The dragons ripped the gate asunder and killed thousands, then set out in conquest of other lands. Only Crucia saw the value in the Infinity Gate, bidding her Storm Legion to secure the Steppes of Infinity.
Ever since, the Legion has worked to restore the Infinity Gate, bending the mysterious Architects into service of their cause. Crucia's release is imminent, and repairs are nearly complete. All that remains is to recover the Nexus Key and use it to align the hexagonal constructs. With the gate open, Crucia will call her remaining forces from across the universe and crush Telara, then lead the Storm Legion in conquest of all the Planes.
Unfortunately for Crucia, Regulos -- well aware of the gate's power -- sent his minions to besiege Dusken and retrieve the Nexus Key. Now, the Storm Legion is locked in battle with the Endless Court for control of both. The Ascended must secure the Infinity Gate and the Nexus Key if they hope to rid Telara of the dragons, or explore the planes themselves...
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